Communism

See also: Economics | Government | Socialism

Table of contents 1 What is Communism?
2 Theory
3 What do Communists want?
4 Related Topics

What is Communism?

Communism is an economic, political and social philosophical / ideological movement that attempts to create an environment in which all citizens are treated equally.

Communism is a political model where class division due to the development of a plutocracy is specifically designed to not occur. This ideology, of course, was the main reason for the Cold War. Communism was, and is, a direct threat to a stealth democracy and laissez-faire capitalism. Communism is thought to be the opposite of capitalism but it is really only non-compatible.

Communism is opposed to capitalism and democracy; although the communist political model is quite varied and has many streams of thought, which can be found in many pieces of theoretical literature. Unlike anarchy, communism is based on tight political and socio-economic control during its formative early stages.

Communism is sometimes also losely used to describe the set of principles or ideals of anarchists, as essentially both movements have the same goal in mind, but differ on the methods of arriving there.

Theory

History and power are seen by communists as being the direct result of a struggle between classes. These classes can be reduced to the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie own capital and directly profit from the labour of others, while the proletariat are in turn the labourers who are paid a wage for their labour. Thus, the proletariat becomes the wage-slave of the bourgeois capitalist and the capitalist, producing nothing him/her-self, is a parasite.

A common misconception of Communism is that it is anti-religious and will take away people’s rights to own “things”. This is far from the truth, while nominally Communist regimes through history have repressed religion Communism itself doesn’t expect that. Karl Marx, the Father of 20th century marxism on which state-communism is based, taught that religion was a panacea that kept people in, essentially, a compliant and sheep-like state; therefore the party AND the platform must be “atheistic”. Bear in mind that the “seperation of church and state”, which is (supposedly) the basis of all modern democracy, essentially results in a “atheistic” political structure as well.

While an obsessive possessiveness with a thing wouldn’t be looked upon as being a drive or ambition to feed; Communism doesn’t really make much of personal possessions or even property. Again, bear in mind, that all major religions and teachers preach that possessiveness and greed are the root of unhappiness, it is a universal truth.

However, what Communism violently rejects is capital, which is property or possessions that allow for the exploitation of the proletariat for personal profit or gain – like a factory or advertising agency. Once an individual utilizes the labour of another, pays them a wage from the profit derived from the sale of that product, only a disporpotionally small part of that profit, retaining the majority for their own or corporate use, then they become one of the capitalist bourgeoisie.

What do Communists want?

Communists want a community, in which mutual aid and government are interdependent; with the eventual aim of making government redundant once people learn to work for each other and not just for themselves.

However good the intentions, many people consider that communism is beyond the political sphere because it has sometimes manifested with murderous plots and armed insurrections which frequently result in the death of many of the innocent proletariates it intended to help.

Communist power is typically seen as illegitimate because it’s power is not derived from free and democratic elections and uncensored public forums which allows for freedom of expression and serious debate. Although communism is based on a system of cooperation it is often oppresive in application. Expressions which do not favour a communist government are typically censored.